Show up, chow down, and feel great about helping
By Kyra Hoggan
WAIT! Put that spatula down and don’t bother cooking dinner at all Friday night! There’s a much better option – less expensive, more fun, and a way to ease the holidays for your neighbours in need.
This Friday, Dec. 11, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., you can get a spaghetti-and-meatballs dinner complete with bread, coffee and dessert, for just $10 – and every penny of the proceeds will go directly to the Community Harvest Food Bank. Chef du Jour will be none other than Dot Byrne, so it’s sure to be a feast, not to mention a fun, filling way to get out into the community, meet people, and pitch in a little.
Best of all, you’re pitching in by paying the tiny sum of $10 – you still won’t have to wash dishes. Not a bad way to kick off the weekend, not to mention the holiday season.
This first annual event, to be held at St. David’s Anglican Church at 614 Christina Place (just off Columbia Avenue), could prove to be a real boon for the food bank, which not only gives out as many as 300 hampers every year, but also has to find ways to make the Christmas bounty stretch well into next year.
“It’s hard to say how many people will come, because it’s our first one – anyone who knows Dot’s cooking will be there, for sure,” said food bank spokesperson Deb McIntosh. “But I know the volunteers will make it fabulous and word will spread, so there’s lots of potential, not just this year, but in the years to come, too.
“The Christmas season is critical to us – it’s the time of year people are thinking about giving. January to July are really, really tight, so we have to make it last, and there are more and more people – lots of them working families – who really need our help. The food bank is in dire straights, and we count on donations from November and December to see us through.”
Of course, there are other ways to give – none that taste as good, but all of which help. Cash is, of course, welcome, and food drop-off locations in Castlegar for Community Harvest Food Bank include: Fireside Inn, Chamber of Commerce/info Center, Kootenay Gallery, Kootenay Market, Extra Foods, Safeway, Supercat Studios and City Hall.
Also, keep your eyes peeled around town for the appearance of one of our new, colourful Kindness Meters, which have already raised close to $300, and be sure to attend the CP Rail Holiday Train Monday – a fun and exciting event with top-tier entertainment, goodie bags, and more for revellers of all ages, and all staged to raise food and money for the food bank (Watch for coverage in Friday’s Castlegar Source).
Meanwhile, this Friday, you don’t need reservations and tickets won’t be pre-sold. Just show up, chow down, and feel great about helping!
